The ring of the Pyongyang bell added delight to the joy of liberation

At 0 o'clock on January 1, Juche 35(1946), the ringing of the Pyongyang bell made by our ancestors in 1 726 rang with the beginning of a new year.

With the deep and solemn bell sound signaling the birth of a new fate, the people who had been at a loss for a moment rushed to the Taedong Gate, shouting for joy.

They shouted hurrah with tears in their eyes.

After being deprived of the country by the Japanese imperialists, our people had forgotten about the existence of the bell for more than 40 years.

The Japs made our country into their colony by the bayonets and made vicious maneuvers to obliterate the historical relics and remains which instill the soul of the nation into the minds of the Korean people regarding them as the eyesores and objects of plunder.

Thus, the Korean people could not hear the solemn peal of the Pyongyang bell, the pride of the nation associated with the wisdom and wits of the nation for decades of years.

The Pyongyang Bell, which had been forgotten for many years, was able to peal high as President Kim Il Sung brought about the spring of liberation.

Photo. Pyongyang Bell

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said:

"Comrade Kim Il Sung was a great leader of the people who put forward the masses, once oppressed and exploited, as the masters of history, and raised their dignity and value to the highest level possible."

President Kim Il Sung, who had been busy with the construction of a country on the liberated land, called an official of the People's Committee of Pyongyang City on the last day of Juche 34(1945).

President Kim Il Sung told him that the next day was the first new year's day after the country had been liberated from the colonial rule of the Japanese imperialists and they should make sure that the Korean people celebrate in a pleasant and significant way the first new year's day after they escaped from the life of colonial slaves of the Japanese imperialists since they had never kept the new year's day satisfactorily due to the harsh exploitation and oppression under the colonial rule of Japanese imperialists.

The President asked the official if the Pyongyang bell at Taedong Gate could still work. The official was really surprised.

Form the olden times, the Pyongyang bell used to ring to signal the time when the castle gate was closed or the curfew at night.

The people vividly remembered the peal of the Pyongyang bell, which sounded as sadly as raindrops under the eaves on the day when the whole nation burst into tears with the song of "Let's wail bitterly and loudly".

Afterwards, it had been defended firmly as the soul of the nation, though it could not ring under the suppression of the Japs.

The official replied that it was possible to ring the bell while he didn't actually understand what the President meant.

The President was very pleased to hear his answer and said that if the Pyongyang bell rang on the occasion of the first New Year's Day after liberation, it would add delight to the joy of our people and further fire their zeal to build a country. He went on to say that the Pyongyang bell should ring at 0 o'clock on the New Year's Day, and after that he would deliver a speech to all the people.

The official could understand the deep intention of the President and hardly quiet his thumping heart.

President Kim Il Sung made the first New Year Address of liberated Korea called "Appeal to the People of the Whole Country at the New Year" to the people across the country.

The bell that added joy of liberation was an echo of history signaling the end of the underworld and bright future laid ahead of the Korean people under the guidance of President Kim Il Sung, the sun of the nation.

Many years have passed since then.

The sound of the Pyongyang bell that has been ringing for years says;

Only when we are led by an outstanding leader can both the country and its time-honored history shine.